A woman who looked a lot like Olive spoke up across the table. “Oh, you must be Olive’s…“

“…boyfriend.” With a hand still on her shoulder, I knew Olive tensed under me at the word. “It’s nice to finally meet you guys.” As I was about to introduce myself, Olive turned back to the table and said to no one in particular, “Excuse us for a minute.” She stood and I got a better view of her in the dress. I would have to work extra hard to not check her out all night in front of her family. Definitely not a great first impression if I’m undressing her with my eyes during dinner.

Olive grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the front of the restaurant. As we strode by different tables, all eyes were on us, probably because they all wondered how I snagged a Sports Illustrated model.

I happily followed wherever she was going, which was probably to beat me up in the parking lot. When we reached the exit, she pulled me into the frigid air outside. We stood in the snow without our jackets, but the sight of her had enough heat coursing through me to keep me warm.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Venom dripped from her words.

I forced myself to focus on her face, but it didn’t help much. She had on more makeup than she did on the plane and her once-straight blonde hair was now curly and pulled back with little braids. She looked beautiful, and I found myself having a hard time speaking, which was especially odd considering I had an extensive vocabulary. I liked seeing this Grinch all dressed up.

“You told me you were coming to dinner here tonight. Thought you could use some company.”

She crossed her arms and scrunched up her nose. “Um. No, I did not.”

Unable to contain my smile at her reaction, I shook my head. I knew she wouldn’t remember our previous conversations on the plane, but I didn’t know how she would act when I would show up.

“Yes, you did, you told me everyone would be here and that you would try to fake food poisoning so you could go home early.”

She twisted her lip in a way that told me she suddenly remembered telling me their plans while she was drinking.

“I haven’t dated someone in years, so they’re probably all freaking out right now. The plan was just to tell everyone that my imaginary boyfriend couldn’t make it and now you show up looking all…” her cheeks turned rosy as she eyed my suit, “…you. I had all of this handled and now they’re going to dissect you like a frog in eighth grade science class.”